COMMUNITY workers claim parents are being deliberately kept in the dark by government child protection officers to lessen their chances of having their children returned to them.

It comes as a government report reveals that at last count only one in six of the children under protection ­orders was released from ­Department of Human Services monitoring or state care.

Family support groups say children are being ripped away from their mothers without adequate explanation of what families can do to prove they are providing a safe home.

In 2011 in Victoria, $321.5 million was spent on out-of-home care. Family support services were given $63.2 million but social workers say more money should go towards prevention and early intervention measures.

Some issues highlighted by workers at the Family ­Inclusion Network Victorian branch, which launched yesterday, include:

A COMMUNITY worker ­interrogated by DHS staff when she helped a mentally disabled pregnant woman find a lawyer.

PARENTS told they are being difficult when they seek ­information about legal rights.

TWO cases of parents issued with documents explaining why their child had been taken from them hours before they were supposed to fight in court for their children’s return.

PARENTS assigned to up to 17 different case workers.

A CHILD in three care homes in the past month after leaving her foster home of seven years and the birth mother unable to access legal aid.

FIN secretary Denise Smith said parents did not get enough support to navigate a complex system.

“We should putting in enough resources to break the cycle of child ­removal,” she said.

The Child Protection Australia 2012-2013 report ­revealed a 20 ­per cent increase in the number of Victorian children in government protection.